A/N (14 Dec 2016): Thanks for your wonderful support, everyone. I'm sorry updates have slowed down. Mental health issues happening around myself and my loved ones. I promise I WILL be ending this fic!
A/N (11 Apr 2017): Thank you guys SO MUCH for your patience and encouragement. Everyone who messaged me—wow, thank you. You're all amazing.
I edited all of Overcome while overcoming my writer's block heh. Scenes have been added, the pacing changed…and Chapter 7 is a new addition, which is why this (21) is not a new chapter, though it's changed a lot. More importantly: the ending is written. I had chapter 22 ready for over a week, but waited to post until I had the whole work a lot closer to done because from now on I'm going to update regularly. I've loved writing this work, and consequently I'm excited to finish it for you all. Onward!
Chapter 21: In Love With the Flame
Several hours of running brought them to a mountain whose windswept sides were clear of everything but low shrubs. When Gray pointed out the light above, Natsu yelled, "Happy!" before Gray could say more and the two took off into the night at max speed.
It left Gray sprinting in their wake with a murderous Erza at his side. Gray was more than a bit pissed himself. Fucking Dragon Slayer, leaving them behind. Natsu was committing all sorts of betrayal today.
They reached the fire-lit outcrop in time to see him holding a woman by the collar. Around him was littered debris and a few overturned supplies around a guttering fire.
Whatever words Natsu was saying were too low for them to hear, but the woman's face was a picture of terror. For good reason: the Dragon Slayer was completely covered in flames.
Gray was shocked at the violence of the display. Natsu?
"North!" the woman shouted. "I swear! Don't kill me!"
Natsu tossed her to the ground and stomped to the northern edge of the clearing. Gray couldn't remember seeing him this upset. Ever.
"Wait," Erza commanded.
Natsu whirled. "We need to keep moving."
His eyes skittered over Gray in an expression the ice mage couldn't read.
"What happened?" Erza demanded. Then she gasped. "What the hell?"
Gray turned, frowning—and froze. A body lay in the grass, a hole blow through the middle of their chest. Oh fuck. Surely not. Natsu…no.
"Apparently Lucy summoned Taurus and this woman got knocked out in the fighting." Natsu jerked his head at the scared mage. "That's all she knows. Says the man over there was probably killed by their leader for letting Lucy get to her keys."
"You didn't do this?" Erza asked.
"No."
Gray let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The idea of Natsu killing people scared him. He wouldn't normally believe the Salamander capable of something like that, but Natsu was clearly having a bad day. Not to mention he hadn't denied that he could've been the killer had circumstances been different.
Crouching by the fallen woman, Gray checked to make sure she was still alive—she was—and iced her hands and feet together. The side of her head was bleeding from when Natsu had thrown her, so he (somewhat regretfully) covered that in ice too.
"We need to question her," Erza said.
"Can't," Gray said. "Natsu knocked her cold."
There was a twist to the Dragon Slayer's lips as he muttered, "Not my fault."
Erza sighed. "Alright, search the area for anything else. Then yes, Natsu, we'll keep going. Obviously."
She strode off to inspect an outcrop of rocks. Gray headed toward the opposite edge of the firelight, not sure what Erza expected them to find.
"Gray."
He whirled around. With eerie quietness, Natsu had come up right behind him. Still looking upset, the Dragon Slayer seemed a bit more vulnerable now, almost scared, and he was not quite meeting Gray's eye.
"What is it?" Gray asked, glowering.
"Are you okay?"
"I might ask you that."
Natsu scowled. "I'm not the one who beat myself up earlier today."
At the words, cold feeling rushed back into the parts of Gray he'd shoved aside.
He'd managed to control his own panic earlier through a mix of determination and self-hatred, and Erza's news had successfully shocked him out of any lingering feelings of fear. His fear hadn't been the usual kind, anyway, focused less on his past and more on the immediate—on Natsu's words playing on repeat through his brain. I give up.
It hurt like fucking hell. Gray should be able to cram it down, but he couldn't. It kept beating in his chest in ways that made him feel disgustingly weak. Panic and flashbacks weren't what he had to repress: this was a new pain spearing a hole through his chest.
Having a mission had successfully distracted him until now. Gray was able to be strong for others where he couldn't be for himself. This wasn't the first time in his life a Fairy Tail emergency had required his attention when his emotions weren't stable, and he preferred things this way. There was something about being needed which helped him get a hold of himself.
Lucy and the team needed Gray, even if Natsu didn't anymore. The thought choked him a little.
"I'm fine," Gray said, the words heavy with unsaid things.
"Okay." Natsu toed the dirt. "Good."
At Erza's call, both men jumped.
When they all began running again, he and Natsu side by side, Gray couldn't have felt further apart.
The woman Natsu questioned had been right: north was the direction to go. The faint scent trail led them through the woods all night. They ran as much as possible, and the passing hours made Natsu want to scream at Gray for being reckless and coming this far even though he was injured. Dammit, this in itself was an argument against self-harm: they never knew when they'd have to take off on a desperate mission they never anticipated. The world didn't follow anyone's plans.
If it did, he would've gotten to solve things with Gray before now. Hell, if the world did as Natsu wanted, Gray wouldn't have those bruises on his back at all.
As dawn tinted the horizon a lighter shade, they came around another mountain and a valley spread out before them. Nestled between the surrounding peaks, cultivated fields stretched across it with a brooding mansion in the center of the estate.
As they caught their breath, Natsu discovered his legs felt like columns of water. His anger had the ability to burn for a surprisingly long time, keeping him going all night, but weariness was nagging at him now. He couldn't imagine how Gray had done it. He could yell at the man.
But he'd get Lucy back first. Rest could come after, when he'd force Gray to lie down and sleep.
He used to think Gray could handle anything, but these days he'd seen the broken pieces and knew even Gray had limits. Natsu really wanted to protect him. He needed Gray to be okay.
The fact that he couldn't currently do anything to help him infuriated Natsu.
"I take it this is where the smell leads?" Erza asked.
"Yeah. You're not going to hold me back, right?" Natsu snarled, with a lot more irritation than he'd intended.
To her credit, she met him stare for determined stare.
"No. Time to burn things down."
Good. Natsu needed to explode right now.
As they crossed out of the forest into bright green rice fields, a strange feeling slid over Gray's skin. It made him wary, being suddenly out in the open. And then he berated himself for being paranoid.
Goddamn sleepless night.
It didn't make any sense. According to Natsu, Lucy was in a rundown little house only a hundred meters from the edge of the estate. There were only two people in sight guarding the door, and no other magic power they could sense anywhere.
The Salamander, who wasn't being subtle, marched straight up to the hut, ignoring the wizards guarding the door.
Glancing at each other, Gray and Erza shared a look. Natsu was reckless and brash, but this was a new level of stupid—as if he didn't even notice other people existed. It had Gray worried. Of course Lucy was fucking important, but Natsu never acted like this.
Punching one of the wizards into unconsciousness, the Dragon Slayer kicked down the door without even noticing the other mage was raising her hands behind him.
Gray knocked her sideways with shards of ice. At the sound, Natsu whirled, eyes flicking between the body and Gray's face. The ice mage was bewildered: Natsu looked furious. You're fucking welcome.
"In here," Natsu muttered, turning his back.
Inside, the shack was cleared out except for a blonde-haired woman on the floor.
Dropping to his knees, Natsu called Lucy's name, but she didn't stir. When he shook her, repeating her name, his frown deepened, and he tilted as if listening.
"Smell any blood?" Gray asked.
Natsu shook his head.
"Pulse?"
"Not sure," was all Natsu said.
"Let's—"
He cut off when Natsu shot to his feet. Gray knew what that look meant.
"People are coming," Gray told the others, even as they heard a shout outside.
Without questioning, Erza darted to the doorway, sword in hand. About to follow her, Gray stopped, grabbed the unresponsive Dragon Slayer, and shook him by the shoulder.
"Grab Lucy and let's go! Now!" And examine the bizarre circumstances of everything later.
They burst out of the hut and into a quickly-forming circle of people. The rest of the mercenary wizards, by the looks of them. Natsu laid Lucy on the ground, finally, finally paying attention.
"You can't get escape," an older woman said, matter-of-fact. "Not until the Lady of this house lets us all go. And she won't without that girl. Which means the girl is valuable goods to us."
"How about this?" Erza growled. "If you let us through without fuss, I won't let Natsu burn you all to the ground."
She hooked a thumb at the Salamander, who grinned at the older woman with a sharp, pointy smile. There was something dangerous in the air around him. A few meters away, Gray couldn't feel any heat yet, but he was smarter than to get any closer. The Dragon Slayer looked like a cat about to have lunch. A cat with shaking fists and small tongues of flame escaping off his body.
Screw that, Natsu looked far more dangerous than any feline.
Seeing the Salamander like this made Gray fall in love with him all over again. The steely glare, the hard muscles, the fluttering sparks…Gray loved it all. Which was stupid, because Natsu had said some pretty terrible things. But a light, overwhelmed feeling trickled through Gray's insides, just like the nerves he'd felt when he kissed Natsu for the first time. It ached and tore him up inside in the best of ways, a feeling that told him he wanted to stand beside Natsu like this always.
It made him realize how hard things would be if he had to fight beside Natsu every day but didn't get to sleep beside him every night. Shitfuck, he didn't want to think about it.
"Threatening me won't change anything," the woman spat. "I'm not the one who trapped us all here."
Cold was pouring off Gray's skin now, and Erza pointed both her swords at the woman. They all saw when the woman shifted her foot to lunge.
Erza was on her first, knocking her to the ground while Gray struck in one direction and Natsu in the other.
"Happy, get Lucy!" Natsu called. At the unrestrained emotion in Natsu's voice, Gray finally realized: he was scared.
There was no time to figure out if Gray could comfort Natsu, or whether he had a right to, or whether he even wanted to. But somewhere emerged the silent thought that Natsu wasn't in his right mind at the moment. Fear alone was driving him.
Lines of shadow raced across the ground, hard to see in the dawn light, but Natsu was a blazing inferno, no shadows anywhere near him. Gray caught the movement and jerked to cut the mage off. He already knew he'd be too late.
Beside him, the Dragon Slayer called, "Look out, Happy!"
The cat shot up into the sky just in time. The shadows coalesced into a person, who punched the Salamander in the gut. Natsu punched back, sending him flying down a row of rice plants.
As Gray put his hands together to shoot down another opponent, his gaze snagged on Natsu's. In that brief moment, adrenaline pumping through them, they shared a gleeful grin that welled up without thought.
Fighting for their friends went beyond any differences or distance between them. It brought them together in a way very few things did, a special kind of intimacy. It would always be this way, Gray realized. He would always have Natsu at his side like this, no matter what other things he lost with the Salamander. He wasn't sure if that was comforting or excruciating.
After knocking back another fighter, Gray glanced over at Natsu again. The Dragon Slayer's face bore the expression of fire itself: both anger and warmth. It was perfect. He was perfect.
As Natsu threw a punch, Gray flowed into movement beside him, the battle side of his brain taking over.
There was just enough of his conscious mind left to enjoy watching out of the corner of his eye as the Dragon Slayer twisted and kicked, palms glowing. Right now, Gray didn't try to peer into the future. He didn't want to know. He could enjoy this fight as long as it lasted, and deal with the pain later.
Natsu loved the rush of hitting someone. But even here, with Gray nearby where Natsu could protect him, anxiety nagged his gut. When they first found Lucy, her pulse and breathing were mostly normal, she didn't appear beat up, and nothing smelled off. Which meant the reason she wasn't waking up was something a lot worse than a little conk on the head.
Meanwhile, the rest of their team was exhausted and beset by people intent on taking their one unarmed member away from them. Half their attacks were aimed upward at Happy and Lucy, and Natsu couldn't stop them all.
Sagging, Gray caught his eye again, and Natsu could practically read his thoughts. They had Lucy—simple—so now they needed to get out of here. That was something the Salamander could do.
Taking a breath, Natsu sprinted ahead, careening through half a dozen attackers and making a run for the edge of the property. They just needed a clear path. Blasting through the last person in his way, he spun around to call back to the others—and smelled metal a moment before it happened.
The only reason he even reacted was that it smelled like Gajeel and Natsu dodged on instinct. Iron spikes shot from the ground and barely missed him. They kept stretching up and up, until a giant fence blocked his way, curving away in both directions. And then the fence reached for him.
The metal warped with unreal speed and made a swipe at him. Fist lighting with fire, Natsu lashed out.
"Wait!" Erza shouted behind him.
But he was already punching the fence.
With an ominous clang, he rebounded, flying a dozen meters before rolling through the dirt. It felt like he'd hit himself, every centimeter of force he'd exerted shoving its way under his skin. With ringing in his ears, Natsu took a breath. Lifted his head. Shook himself and started to rise.
Ice appeared at his side. A thud made it rattle. It took Natsu only a moment to take stock. Gray, the Gray Fullbuster he was supposed to be taking care of, had thrown a shield up for him and blocked an attacker sneaking up behind him.
Zeroing in on the ice mage, Natsu growled, watching as three people ganged up on Gray in his distraction. Without pausing, Natsu sprinted back the ice mage. The black stripes on Gray's back distorted as the man twisted away from an attack, quick footwork just saving him from someone else's enchanted spear. A third fighter got in a gash to Gray's leg with earth magic before Natsu slammed into her, crashing her to the ground.
Natsu was tuned back into Gray now, hearing his heartbeat, smelling that awful stench of his blood. That odor always made him want to throw up, but under the circumstances, he settled for shooting Gray a venomous glare.
"Fucking shield, for heaven's sake," Gray muttered.
Stupid, reckless icicle. As if everything were about him—as if he could show off at the expense of his body. It was a body Natsu liked immensely, and every self-inflicted wound made his fire flare hotter.
Which, currently, wasn't a bad thing, but later Natsu was going to have to deal with just how much Gray had pissed him off.
The joy of fighting left Gray in an instant. He wanted to wipe the angry look off Natsu's face with his fists.
Natsu had forfeited his right to make requests about how Gray chose to show his feelings. If Gray did something stupid, Natsu wasn't allowed to pretend he cared. Not after what had happened.
Take that, you dumb flaming lizard. Gray turned his back on the man.
More metallic thuds sounded along the fence as several other wizards tried to get through, all of them thrown back with greater and greater violence. One screamed as their attack bounced back on them.
The fight around the Fairy Tail wizards waned, giving them an opportunity to finally regroup.
"You can't run off, Natsu!" Erza said, knocking an attacker to the ground. "You left Lucy wide open."
"We need to get the hell out of here!" he protested. "I was making a way."
"Obviously that's not happening," Gray grunted. He still wasn't looking at Natsu.
"So I'll pound the fence some more," Natsu said.
"Baka, it's clearly magical!" Gray shot back. "You won't break it so easily."
Erza cut across them.
"We need to find a place we can tend to Lucy and figure out what the hell is going on."
"A retreat? Are you serious?" Natsu shouted.
Despite his anger at the Dragon Slayer, Gray couldn't help feeling cut-up at the desperation in Natsu's voice. Deep breath. He's scared, remember?
"Something is wrong with Lucy," Gray said as evenly as he could. "You're worried. Let's deal with this."
Huffing, Natsu didn't reply.
Glancing around, Erza took in the few wizards still standing. A few were by the fence, trying to extract a comrade from its metal fingers. Several others threw spells at the fence, all magic rebounding on them.
"Well," she said, "since we can't get out: further in?"
"I don't see anyone coming from the buildings." Happy had fluttered down beside them, Lucy still clutched in his paws. "There's nobody else coming to fight."
When the requip mage started running, Happy behind her, Gray had to yank on Natsu's collar to get him to follow.
"We'll break out later, flame brain," he said, giving the man a vicious jerk. "C'mon. We need you."
At those words, Natsu stopped struggling. Gray let go of his collar as fast as he could, darted around him, and ran ahead.
He couldn't stand touching Natsu right now. Couldn't bear the heat of his skin while things were like this between them.
He couldn't handle it if the touch meant nothing to Natsu.
A/N: Comments keep my spirits up. ^^
Chapter 22: Insufficient